Toy crane



Oct. 14 1947. c, OLSON 2,429,070

TOY CRANE Filed Feb. 25, 1946 Ti l. t

Edwin 0! Olson BY INVENTOR. I

Patented Oct. 14, 194? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY CRANE Edwin C.Olson, New Britain, Conn. Application February 25, 1946, Serial No.649,969

8 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to a grab bucketcrane for lifting marbles and transporting them in a manner similar tothe action of a clam shell dredger.

The present invention provides a realistic imitation of the commonindustrial operation of loading and unloading trucks, railroad freightcars, etc.

One object of the present invention is to provide a device of the abovenature having means whereby the marble may be automatically dumped intoa toy truck or freight car.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature comprising aflat circular casing open at the bottom suspended by a cord from anoverhead boom adapted to be carried by the hand of the operator, and inwhich the casing has located therein a pair of pivoted marble-grippingjaws forming a bucket provided with concave marble embracing bucketelements at their lower ends.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature in whichsaid bucket has diverging central releasing lugs adapted to engage aninturned flange on a releasing chamber whereby the marble willautomatically be released when lowered upon said chamber.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature in which theupper ends of the pivoted marble-gripping jaws are provided withoutwardly-extending curved lugs for slidably engaging the inner sides ofthe circular casing, so that said jaws may be permitted to slide easilyupwardly therein when lowered upon the marble, and will automaticallymove to marble-holding position when the casing is lifted.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which willbe simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to installand manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, interesting,enjoyable, and instructive to children, and very eflicient and durablein use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated in theaccompanying drawing one form in Which'the invention may be embodied inpractice.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the toy crane as it appears whenthe marble is being transported thereby.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the lifting loop at the top ofthe casing, and showing the bucket when it is being lowered upon amarble prior to the lifting operation.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, showing the appearance ofthe buckets after the easing has been lowered upon the marble and themarble-gripping jaws have spread apart and been caused to pass down overthe edge of the marble and then moved inwardly and upwardly again toembrace said marble.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, illustrating the operation ofreleasing the marble-the releasing lugs of the bucket being engaged bythe inturned flange of the releasing chamber located beneath saidbuckets.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the pair of opposed jaw members prior to theirassembly within the bucket casing.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral It]indicates an elongated boom adapted to be carried in the hand of thechild or other operator, and having a lifting cord connected to theouter end thereof. The lower end of the cord H is connected to a casing|2 comprising a pair of circular sides l3, 14, having inturnedsemi-circular abutting flanges |5, l5 and I6, |5-the sides I3, M of thecasing being connected together at the top by a curved arched connectingloop H. The flanges |5, |6 are provided with spaced bottom ends l8, l8and l9, l9 having an aperture 20 therebetween.

In order to lift a marble so it may be transported from place to placefor loading and unloading a toy truck or freight car not shown,provision is made of a pair of T-shaped straight complementarymarble-gripping jaw-s 2|, 22, preferably constructed of strip metal. Thejaws 2|, 22 are provided at their intermediate portions with a pair ofopposed interfitted slots 23, 24, and have inturned converging straightupper ends 25, 26 connected to the jaws 2|, 22 by a pair of otwardlyextending curved lugs 21, 28. The lower ends of the jaws 2|, 22 areprovided with concave inturned bucket elements 29, 30, and 3|, 32,respectively, which embrace a pair of integral diverging centralstraight bottom lugs 33. 34, as clearly shown shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4,and 5.

The lugs 33, 34 are spaced from the bucket elements 29, 30, 3|, 32 byfour slots 35, 36, 31, 38, respectively, as clearly shown in thedrawing.

In order to permit the marble to be unloaded from the bucket, provisionis made of a cylindrical marble unloading chamber 39 (as clearly shownin Fig. 5), which i adapted to be located above the top of a toy truckor freight car (not shown). The unloading chamber 39 is provided with aninclined inturned wide upper flange 40 having a central aperture 4|, thediameter of which is larger than the diameter of the marble to becarried by the crane, and smaller than the distance between theextremities of the lugs 33, 34 when the marble is in carrying position.

Operation In the operation of the present invention, when it is desiredto pick up a marble from the floor or other surface, the crane boom twill be held in the hand of the operator, and the casing i5 will belowered vertically until the bucket elements 29, 30, 3!, 32 engage themarble. The jaws 21., 22 of the bucket will thus be spread apartautomatically and will move from the position shown in Fig. 2 to theposition shown in Fig. 4, whereupon the marble M may be lifted andtransported to any desired location.

When it is desired to unload'the marble from the crane, the casing l5will be lowered over the release chamber .39, causing the lugs 33, 3d atthe ends of the bucket to strike the flange .49 of the release chamber.Farther movement of the casing i2 downwardly Will cause themarblegripping jaws 2|, 22 to spread apart by a scissors action inopposite directions-theupper ends 25, 26 of said jaws moving upwardlyand outwardly from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown inFig. 5, until the bucket has opened sufficiently to permit the marble todrop through the aperture 4| in the release chamber 39 and be receivedin the toy trucker freight car.

It will be understood that when the marble is being carried by thebucket, the weight of the marble will pull the bucket elementsdownwardly and maintain them in tight holding engagement with saidmarble.

The present invention is also adapted to be used in the playing of thewell-known game of Fishpond" or other games.

While-there has been disclosed in this specification one form inwhichthe invention maybe embodied, it is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention isnot to'be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be'modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimentscoming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy crane, a carrying boom, a cord suspended thereby, a casingsuspended by said cord and having an open bottom with converginginturned side walls, a pair of marble gripping jaws centrally pivoted toeach other located partly within said casing andhaving outstanding upperlugs for slidably engaging the converging side walls of said casing, thelower ends of said jaws being located outside of said casing and havingmarble-embracing inwardly concave clam-shell bucket-shaped elementsadapted to be raised and cammed apart by a marble, and to thereafterclose inwardly around said marble by camming of said lugs with saidcasing side walls to permit said marble to be lifted and transported toanother location.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which each jaw is of invertedT-shape.

.3. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which said bucket-shapedelements are provided with downwardly-extending outstanding diverginglug for engaging the inturned flange of a releasing chamber having acentral aperture whereby said diverging lugs will spread apart with ascissors action and cause said elements to open to permit the marble ,todrop into'said release chamber.

4. The invention as defined in claim ,1, in which said upper lugs haveconvex outer surfaces.

5. The invention asdefined in claim 1 in which said jaws areeach ofinverted T-shape and have opposed open slots to provide pivot points forsaid laws to swing with a scissors action.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which one of saidbucket-shaped elements is provided integrally with adownwardly-extending out.- standing lug for engagement with a stationaryelement, whereby said casing may move downwardly with relation to saidlug and cause said jaws to open said bucket-shaped elements and permitthe marble to drop therefrom.

7. In a toy crane, a pair of gripping jaws cens trally pivoted forscissors movement, each of said jaws being formed with anoutwardly-extending lug at its upper end, and acylindrical casingsupporting and confining said lugs for cam :action against the innercurved surfaces of the casing, said casing having upper means forconnection to a suspending cord, and a lower opening where.- by grippingportions of said jaws below :the lugs will depend from said casing.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7, in which said cylindrical casingis suppp tted with its axis horizontal.

EDWIN ,C. OLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 545,411 Mootham Aug. 27, 18951,213,574 Baash Jan. 23, 1917 1,367,044 I-Iausler Feb. -1, 1921

